"Anderson and I, we've been friends since after the second fight he and I had together," says Franklin, who has lost two title bouts to the lanky Muay Thai expert.

"On several occasions, we tried to train together, but scheduling-wise, it just didn't seem to work out. Then, his manager contacted me several weeks ago and asked me if I was interested in coming out there (to California) to train for this fight."

Franklin checked with his coaches, who thought it was a good idea.

"So I decided to head out to L.A. and trained for a couple of weeks," says the 34-year-old former Ohio high school teacher.

"You know, I learned a few things while I was out there, and, all in all, it was a decent camp.

"That seemed like a good resource for this fight in particular."

Franklin is preparing to take on Wanderlei "Axe Murderer" Silva at UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany, next Saturday.

Franklin, a former middleweight champ, says it's not out of character for him to turn men he's fought into training partners and friends.

"I'm friendly with everybody," says Franklin (24-4, with one no-contest).

"I mean, typically, once I fight somebody I assume that I'm probably not going to end up fighting them again. And so, as a professional, one to the other, often times you can end up using somebody as a resource in the future."

That extends to everyone he's faced in the past.

195-LB. CATCHWEIGHT BOUT

"If (Montreal's) David Loiseau was to call me up and ask me if I'd help him prep for a fight or something like that, if it worked out in my schedule, then I would have no problem doing that."

Franklin and Wanderlei -- no relation to Anderson -- will be the main event on the inaugural German UFC show and will fight at a catchweight of 195 lbs. Both fighters are transitioning to different weight classes, with Wanderlei dropping from 205 to fight in the 185-lb. class and Franklin doing the reverse.

Both are also coming off losses -- Franklin to Dan Henderson and Wanderlei to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Still, Franklin feels no added pressure.

"I try not to put a lot of weight on fights like that, like a must-win situation and all that kind of stuff," he says.

"I just prep for this fight the same way I prep for any other fight. And as far as Wanderlei goes, as an opponent, I mean this is a great opportunity for me to fight another great fighter."

UFC 99 will also feature a heavyweight tilt between Cheick Kongo and Cain Velasquez, as well as the return of former top heavyweight Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who will take on Mustapha al Turk.